This project involves organization, planning, and development of an international research team composed of scientists from Mexico and the United States, to determine the incidence, prevalence, risk factors and potential for prevention of vascular dementia and other forms of dementia in Mexico. During the two-year period covered by this grant, a pilot study on the incidence and risk factors of post- stroke dementia will be conducted at the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery (INNN) in Mexico City, Mexico, utilizing the local expertise in the areas of stroke, neuropsychology, geriatric psychiatry, and brain imaging; simultaneously, a data-base will be implemented to incorporate and analyze all patients with diagnosis of stroke or dementia admitted to the hospital and seen in consultation at the INNN, in order to assess the prevalence and etiology of stroke and dementia in this hospital population and the needs and requirements for further studies. It is anticipated that this pilot project will result in building the necessary research capacity to submit a grant application to the NIH in 2005 for a population-based prospective multicenter study on the descriptive and analytical epidemiology of dementia in Mexico. In Mexico, as in most developing nations, elderly populations are growing at a fast pace but there is a dearth of epidemiological and clinical data regarding the frequency, clinical determinants and risk factors of dementia. Given the recently described link between vascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease, and building on existing local expertise and facilities available at the INNN, it is felt that this overall research on vascular risk factors for stroke, vascular dementia, and other forms of dementia in Mexico should provide important information for potential Public Health preventive intervention campaigns. Moreover, a comparison of results with those obtained in Mexican-American populations could have beneficial consequences for these populations in the USA.